Lifestyle Changes Offer Direct Path to Emissions Cuts, Study Finds
New findings show that eating less meat and cutting food waste help get the world move closer to its emissions goals.
Packages of meat for sale at a grocery store in Japan. A societal shift to a flexitarian diet would provide substantial benefits to the climate and human health.
Photographer: Toru Hanai/BloombergA shift in lifestyles, such as wasting less food and eating more plant-based meals are key to getting the world on track to meet the Paris Agreement commitments, according to a study published on Wednesday.
While countries have set emission targets to help the world meet the goal of limiting global warming to a maximum of 2C (3.6F), “it's very unclear how you would actually make progress towards these targets and eventually achieve them,” said Bjoern Soergel, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and the study’s lead author.